Magnetic levitation transport system

ABSTRACT

A transport system has a pair of levitating rails, each of the levitating rails has a core with a plurality of coils extending circumferentially around each of the cores. The coils are perpendicular to the lengths of the levitating rails. Each of the levitating rails has an upper surface directly above the core. A vehicle has wheels that roll on the upper surfaces of the levitating rails in a nonlevitating position. The vehicle has a plurality of magnets that create magnetic fields that pass through the coils while the vehicle is moving along the levitating rails. The magnetic fields induce current, which in turn causes an opposing magnetic field that levitates the vehicle. A steering rail having a plurality of coils is mounted to at least one of the guideways. Permanent steering magnets are located on each side of the steering rail to magnetically steer the vehicle along the guideways.

PRIORITY CLAIM

[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional applicationSer. No. 60/187610, filed Mar. 7, 2000.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates in general to transporting of vehicles bya mass transport system and in particular to a system that willmagnetically levitate transporting vehicles.

DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART

[0003] In U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,135, issued Mar. 21, 2000, a masstransport system is shown that utilizes a pair of guideways. Eachguideway has a shroud surrounding it with a slot for receiving an axleof a vehicle. The vehicle may either be a ferry for hauling conventionalautomobiles and trucks, or it may be a special purpose vehicle thatcarries cargo and/or passengers. The vehicle has wheels that roll ontracks located within the shrouds. The vehicle may be poweredelectrically or by other means.

[0004] One factor that limits the speed of such a system comprises therolling components, which create friction. Prior art exists that employpermanent magnets located on the undersides of components of a train.These magnets are placed in proximity to a series of separate,individually wound coils of copper wire that are mounted adjacent to thetracks. The copper wire is wound at a 90° angle to the direction of thetrain travel.

[0005] As the train is moved along the rails, the magnetic fields of thepermanent magnets pass through the coils of copper wire. This inducescurrents in the coils that in turn produce opposing magnetic fields tothe permanent magnets. This causes the permanent magnets to be repulsedfrom the coils, thereby levitating components of the train above therails. Additional coils are also located at the sides of the railsystem. The train components have permanent magnets mounted at the sidesin such a manner to interact with the coils at the sides, therebyproviding horizontal direction control for the vehicles.

[0006] The prior art systems have disadvantages. Magnetic levitationsystems cannot be used in railway switching areas, making it necessaryfor vehicles to slow to a low speed and exit the magnetic levitationsegments of the rails for track-to-track switching by conventionalrailroad means. The magnetic levitation coils are added to the outsidesof the conventional railway rails, thereby requiring a railway bed ofgreater width than conventional railroads. These railways have beenexpensive to build because of extensive land grading and/or massivestructural supports for heavy elevated railways. Also, they areexpensive because of the large number of separate, individually woundcoils of copper wire that form the magnetic levitation rails.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The transport system of this invention uses a pair of levitatingrails. Each levitating rail has a core and a plurality of coilsextending circumferentially around the core perpendicular to the lengthof the levitating rail. Also, each of the levitating rails has an uppersurface located directly above the core. A vehicle used on the transportsystem has wheels that roll on the upper surfaces of the levitatingrails while at a low speed. The vehicle has a plurality of magnets whichcreate magnetic fields that pass through the coils while the vehiclemoves along the levitating rails. This induces in the coils, whichcauses magnetic fields to be generated that repel the magnetic fields ofthe permanent magnets. Once the speed begins to pick up, the levitatingrails will levitate the vehicle.

[0008] Each of the levitating rails has a hollow core that isnonmagnetic. The vehicle may be powered along the guideways by varioussystems, with one of them being a linear motor. The linear motorcomprises power coils periodically spaced apart from each other alongthe length of the rails. The power coils are supplied with alternatingcurrent, which induces movement of the vehicle when its magnets reactwith the magnetic fields produced by the power coils.

[0009] Also, a steering rail is mounted adjacent to at least one of thelevitating rails. The steering rail has a plurality of coils wrappedaround a core. A pair of steering magnets are mounted to the vehicle andpositioned on opposite sides of the steering rail. The steering magnetscreate magnetic fields that pass through the coils of the steering rail.This induces current in the coils, which causes magnetic fields to begenerated that repel the magnetic fields of the permanent magnets. Theopposing forces created by the magnets and the coils steer the vehicleby tending to cause the permanent magnets to remain substantiallyequidistant from the steering rail.

[0010] Preferably, there are steering magnets mounted to the vehicle oneach side of the vehicle. In a switching area, steering rails arelocated in both guideways. One of the steering rails passes straightthrough the switching area for retaining the vehicle on a main track.The other steering rail diverges off into a branch line. If the vehicleis to be switched onto the branch line, an actuator on the vehiclecauses the steering magnets on the main track side to move downward fromthe main track steering rail. At the same time, another actuator on thevehicle causes steering magnets on the branch side to be moved upwardinto proximity with the branch side steering rail. The branch sidesteering magnets will thus cause the vehicle to follow the branch rail,resulting in the vehicle exiting from the main track onto the branchline.

[0011] Preferably the steering rail is formed by providing sheets ofsubstantial width. Each sheet, which may be of an insulating film suchas Mylar, will have parallel traces of conductive strips formed on it.The conductive strips will be separated by insulation strips, which areair gaps between the strips. The sheet is wrapped in multiple wrapsaround the core to create multiple coils along the rails simultaneously.For use as a levitating rail, these coils will be shorted at each wrapso that each coil forms only a single loop.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012]FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an automobile located on amass transport system constructed in accordance with this invention.

[0013]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the guideways of the masstransport system of FIG. 1.

[0014]FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of one of the guideways and aportion of the transporting vehicle of FIG. 1.

[0015]FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3, but taken at adifferent point to show one of the wheels of the transporting vehicle.

[0016]FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of one of the levitatingrails of the mass transport system of FIG. 1.

[0017]FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a portion of the levitating rail ofFIG. 5, taken along the line 6- -6 of FIG. 5.

[0018]FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view of the levitating rail ofFIG. 5, taken along the line 7- -7 of FIG. 5, and also showing magnetsof the vehicle interacting with the levitating rail.

[0019]FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the levitating rail shown in FIG. 7,illustrating one of the power coils.

[0020]FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustrating one method for forming thelevitating coil of FIG. 1.

[0021]FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a switching section of theguideways of FIG. 1 leading to a branch section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] Referring to FIG. 1, the mass transport system includes a pair ofguideways 11. Guideways 11 are mounted above the ground preferably oncolumns 13, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Guideways 11 are preferably spacedapart, leaving clear open spaces between them. Cross braces 15 at theupper ends of columns 13 support guideways 11 in a parallel manner.

[0023] Referring again to FIG. 1, each guideway 11 includes a levitatingrail 17, which is shown schematically. Levitating rail 17 is made up ofa series of coils that are passive; that is, they are not supplied withelectrical power. A mass transport vehicle 19 has wheels 21 carried inguideways 11. Vehicle 19 also has a plurality of permanent magnets 23that are positioned just above each levitating rail 17. Permanentmagnets 23 create a magnetic field that passes through the coils oflevitating rails 17. As vehicle 19 is moved along guideways 11 by apropulsion source, the moving magnetic fields of magnets 23 will inducea current flow in the coils of levitating rails 17. This causes amagnetic field that repels magnets 23, causing levitation of vehicle 19.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 5, each levitating rail 17 has a nonconductingcore 25 of that is either hollow, as shown, or solid. It may be a highstrength composite or other non-magnetic material. Core 25 may berectangular as shown in FIG. 5 or other shapes, such as cylindrical. Aseries of electrical coils 27 are wrapped around core 25. An outer shell29 is located over coils 27. Outer shell 29 is also of a nonconductivematerial, such as a composite. Preferably the upper surface of outershell 29 is flat and faces upward for providing support for one of thewheels 21 (FIG. 4).

[0025] Referring to FIG. 6, rather than wrapping core 25 with individualwrappings of copper wire to form coils 27, a sheet 31 is used tosimultaneously wrap a large number of coils 27. Sheet 31 has a backingmaterial of a nonconductive film such as Mylar, with electricallyconductive traces or strips 23 are formed therein. Conductive strips 33are parallel and spaced apart from each other, forming insulation strips35 between them. Each insulation strip 35 comprises the Mylar backingmaterial and air gap between conductive strips 33. Sheet 31 may be quitewide, say 20-50 ft. in width, thus will have a large number of conducivestrips 33. Sheet 31 is wrapped around core 25 in a direction that placesconductive strips 31 perpendicular to longitudinal axis 37 (FIG. 5) ofcore 25. Sheet 31 will be wrapped numerous times around core 37,although only three wraps are shown in FIG. 5. For example, there couldbe one hundred wraps around core 37 to achieve the desired magneticforces.

[0026] Also, at each wrap, conductive strips 33 are electricallyconnected to each other by a shorting band 39, shown in FIG. 6. Shortingband 29 is located on both sides of the Mylar backing film of sheet 31.As it overlaps the preceding wrap, shorting band 29 will electricallycontact the conductive strips 33 of the previous wrap. Consequently,each coil 27 formed by a conductive strip 33 extends only around core 25one time, thus forming a single loop. Also, each single coil 27 will beelectrically connected joined to the other conductive strips 33. Priorto wrapping sheet 31 around core 25, shorting bands 39 will be placedalong the length of sheet 31 at desired intervals so that there will beonly one turn of each coil 27. FIG. 9 illustrates the wrapping process,showing sheet 31 being drawn in a web from a large roll (not shown) ofsheet material.

[0027] A propulsion system must be used for propelling vehicle 19(FIG. 1) along guideways 11. The propulsion system could be a variety ofdevices, including an engine or electrical motor driving a propeller, ora jet engine. In the preferred embodiment, however, the propulsionsystem comprises an electrical linear motor. In the linear motor, apower coil 47 will be supplied with electrical power, unlike coils 27 oflevitating rail 17. The power coil 41 is supplied with AC power from apower supply 43. Power coil 41 is preferably wrapped around core 25 andis formed on the same sheet 31 with levitating coils 27. Power coil 41preferably comprises one or more conductive strips 45 that are notshorted to adjacent conductive strips 33 or to themselves with shortingband 39, as in FIG. 6. Rather conductive strips 45 are wrapped aroundthe coil continuously, as shown in FIG. 8, resulting in a pair of leads47, one at each end of the sheet. Conductive strips 45 are parallel toconductive strips 33 (FIG. 6) and maybe identical in width.

[0028] Referring again to FIG. 7, one of the magnets 23 is shownschematically. Magnet 23 is preferably a horseshoe type magnet, having apair of downward facing legs 49 connected by a cross bar 53. Thisresults in a downward directed north pole in one leg and a downwarddirected south pole in the other leg, creating a magnetic field passingin a semi-circular downward loop. The magnetic field extends throughouter shell 29 and through coils 27 as well as power coil 41. As themagnetic fields of magnets 23 move longitudinally along the stationarylevitating rail 17, the magnetic fields will create current in the coils27. This current causes an opposite magnetic force which repulsesmagnets 23, causing vehicle 19 (FIG. 1) to levitate. At the same time,the electromagnetic field produced by the AC power supply 43 will induceforward motion of vehicle 19 in a direction indicated by the arrow.

[0029] Although vehicle 19 (FIG. 1) could be steered mechanically orelectrically, preferably vehicle 19 is magnetically steered alongguideways 11. As shown in FIG. 3, this is handled by a steering rail 55that is mounted within one of the guideways 11 above and adjacentlevitating rail 17. Steering rail 55 is constructed in the same manneras levitating rail 17. FIG. 6, which illustrates levitating rail 17,also illustrates the construction of steering rail 55. Steering rail 55comprises a plurality of coils, each having windings perpendicular tothe length of the rail. Steering rail is also preferably constructedwith a sheet 31 having conductive strips 33. It also is formed as apassive device, having a shorting band 39, resulting in single loopcoils throughout its length. It does not have power coils similar topower coil 41.

[0030] A pair of steering magnets 57 are mounted by a mounting member 59to vehicle 19 (FIG. 1) above one of the wheels 21 on each side ofvehicle 19. Mounting member 59 will selectively position magnets 57 inclose proximity to and on each side of steering rail 55. Steeringmagnets 57 are also permanent magnets and react in the same manner aslevitating magnets 23. As they move along steering rail 55, theirmagnetic fields will induce current in the coils of steering rail 55,which in turn causes a magnetic field that repels magnets 57. Thiscauses magnets 57 to tend to remain equidistant by small gaps from thesides of steering rail 55, thus steering the vehicle 19.

[0031] Mounting member 59, which is shown schematically, includes anactuator, which could be either a rack and pinion, telescoping tubes, ahydraulic cylinder, or other similar device. The actuator will movesteering magnets 57 from the operational position shown by the solidlines in FIG. 3 to a storage position, shown by the dotted lines inFIGS. 3 and 4. In the storage position, steering magnets 57 will belocated below steering rail 55, and their magnetic fields will notinduce currents in the coils in steering rail 55.

[0032] In addition, a pair of rollers 61 are mounted to mounting member59 adjacent each steering magnet 57. Steering rollers 61 are positionedin close proximity to the sides of steering rail 55 while in theoperational position. Rollers 61 are positioned to roll on each side ofsteering rail 55 when steering is handled manually. Rollers 61 areemployed, however, only at low speeds when the current being induced bythe moving steering magnets 57 is not adequate to create enough of acounter-magnetic field to cause magnetic steering. Rollers 61 arepreferably spaced laterally from contact with the sides of steering rail55 while in a storage position. Actuators (not shown) will move theminto contact with the sides of steering rail 55 if they are required formanual steering.

[0033] Steering may be accomplished with only a single steering rail 55,a single pair of steering magnets 57, and a single pair of rollers 61.However, for switching purposes, preferably there will be an identicalset of steering magnets 57 and rollers 61 on both the right and leftsides of vehicle 19. The reason for having steering capabilities on bothsides is illustrated in FIG. 10. FIG. 10 shows a plan view of a mainguideway track 63 which extends straight through a switching section 65.Switching section 65 has a branch track section 67 that diverts at anangle from main track section 63. One side, which is the left side inthis drawing, has a steering rail 55 that extends straight throughswitching section 65 and continues along main track 63. The other side,which is the right side in this drawing, has a steering rail 69 thatcurves and follows one of the branch track sections 67. There will be nostraight steering rail 55 following the right side main track section63.

[0034] Assuming that the left hand steering magnets 57 are handling thesteering on main track section 63, as the vehicle approaches or entersswitching track section 65, the left side steering magnets 57 will belowered by the actuator of mounting member 59 (FIG. 3). The actuator ofmounting member 59 on the right side will simultaneously raise rightside magnets 57 to the operational position. The right side steeringrail 69 will electromagnetically guide vehicle 19 off to branch section67. Once on branch section 67, the right side magnets 57 maybe loweredand the left side magnets 57 again may be raised. Only one of the pairsof magnets 57 will be in an operational position at any given moment.The remaining components are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,135,issued Mar. 21, 2000. Briefly, these include a shroud 71, such as shownin FIGS. 3 and 4. Shroud 71 encloses the components of each guideway 11to prevent rain, ice and snow from affecting the operation. Shroud 71has a lower end 73, an outer side 75 that extends vertically, and anupper side or end 77. Steering rail 55 is mounted to upper end 77 withinshroud 71. Shroud 71 has an upper inner side 79 that inclines inward anddownward. A slot 81 separates upper inner side 79 from a lower innerside 83, which is preferably vertical. Axle 85 of vehicle 19 is offsetso as to fit over upper edge of lower inner side 83. Power andcommunication cables 87 extend through a lower compartment 89.Levitating rail 17 is located on top of compartment 89. Electrical powerbusses 91 and a control signal antenna or waveguide 93 are mounted tothe interior of shroud 71 on the outer side 75. The vehicle has controland power pickup devices 95 to engage or interact with power bus 91 tosupply electrical power and control vehicle 19.

[0035] Referring to FIG. 1, in the embodiment shown, vehicle 19 is aferry having channels 97 on its upper side for receiving wheels 99 of anautomobile, truck, or other type of vehicle 101. Automobile 101 may havea probe 103 to electrically engage ferry vehicle 19 for supplyingelectrical power to automobile 101 while in transit. Ferry vehicle 19has a brake system 105 and a controller 107. Controller 107automatically controls the operation of ferry vehicle 19. It receivescontrol signals from a railway controller 109 and power from a powersupply 111. Alternatively, vehicle 19 could also be passenger and/orcargo vehicle rather than a ferry for automobiles 101.

[0036] In operation, vehicle 19 will be propelled along guideways 11. Asit moves along guideways 11, its permanent magnets 23 will createmagnetic fields in the coils of levitating rails 17. This results inopposing magnetic fields that cause levitation of vehicle 19. Wheels 21will raise up out of engagement with levitating rails 17. The propulsionfrom guideways 11 maybe caused by power coils 41 (FIG. 7) spaced atperiodic intervals.

[0037] As vehicle 19 moves along guideways 11, it will be steered bypermanent magnets 57 (FIG. 3). Permanent magnets 57 induce electricalcurrents in the coils of steering rail 55, which in turn createrepelling magnetic fields tending to cause magnets 57 to remain at thesame gaps from the side walls of the steering rail 55.

[0038] The invention has significant advantages. The mass transportsystem should be less expensive than prior art levitation systemsbecause the sheet-wound rails should be less expensive than separateindividually wound coils. The wheels of the vehicle, while notlevitating, roll directly on the levitating rails, thus eliminating theneed for separate heavy rails to support the vehicle. By handling thesteering magnetically, rolling and sliding contact are reduced. The useof dual steering enables full-speed switching from one track to another.The vehicles move on non-stop basis at a synchronized speed underautomatic control. All of the levitation, steering and electrical powertransfer components are located inside enclosed rails for protectionfrom weather elements. The open spaces between the two guideways enablelight to pass between to the ground.

[0039] While the invention has been shown in only one of its forms. Itshould be apparent to those skilled in the art that it is not so limitedbut it is susceptible to various changes without departing from thescope of the invention.

I claim:
 1. A transport system, comprising: a pair of levitating rails,each of the levitating rails having a core, a plurality of coilsextending circumferentially around each of the cores perpendicular tolengths of the levitating rail, each of the levitating rails having anupper surface directly above the core; a vehicle having wheels that areadapted to roll on the upper surfaces of the levitating rails in anonlevitated position and to be above the upper surfaces in a levitatedposition; and a plurality of magnets mounted to the vehicle, creatingmagnetic fields that pass through the coils while the vehicle is movingalong the levitating rails to levitate the vehicle.
 2. The transportsystem according to claim 1, wherein each of the cores has alongitudinal axis, and the upper surface of each of the rails iscentered above the longitudinal axis.
 3. The transport system accordingto claim 1, wherein the core is nonmagnetic.
 4. The transport systemaccording to claim 1, further comprising a propulsion source for causingthe vehicle to move along the levitating rails.
 5. The transport systemaccording to claim 1, further comprising: an electrical power source forapplying an alternating current voltage to selected ones of the coils,the selected ones of the coils being spaced apart along the lengths ofthe rails to react with the magnetic fields of the magnets to causelongitudinal movement of the vehicle.
 6. The transport system accordingto claim 1, wherein at least some of the coils are shorted to other ofthe coils with each wrap around the core.
 7. The transport systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the each of the levitating rails comprisesa plurality of sheets wrapped around the core in multiple wraps, each ofthe sheets having a plurality of conductive strips formed thereon. 8.The transport system according to claim 1, further comprising: asteering rail mounted adjacent at least one of the levitating rails, thesteering rail having a plurality of coils wrapped around a core; and apair of steering magnets mounted to the vehicle and positioned onopposite sides of the steering rail, the steering magnets creating,magnetic fields that pass through the coils of the steering rail andsteer the vehicle by tending to remain substantially equidistant to thesteering rail.
 9. The transport system according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a steering rail mounted adjacent each of the levitatingrails, each of the steering rails having a plurality of coils wrappedaround a core; and two pairs of steering magnets mounted to the vehicle,each pair of steering magnets positioned on opposite sides of one of thesteering rail while in an operational position, creating magnetic fieldsthat pass through the coils of the steering rails for steering thevehicle, each pair of steering magnets being independently movable to astorage position in which the magnetic fields do not pass through thecoils of the steering rails, to selectively steer the vehicle witheither one of the steering rails.
 10. The transport system according toclaim 1, further comprising: a steering rail mounted adjacent at leastone of the levitating rails, the steering rail having a plurality ofcoils wrapped around a core; a pair of steering magnets mounted to thevehicle and positioned on opposite sides of the steering rail, thesteering magnets creating magnetic fields that pass through the coils ofthe steering rail and steer the vehicle by tending to remainsubstantially equidistant to the steering rail; and a pair of rollersmounted to the vehicle and located on opposite sides of the steeringrail for selective rolling contact with the steering rail to steer thevehicle at speeds that are too low to effectively steer with thesteering magnets.
 11. A transport system, comprising: a pair ofguideways; a vehicle having wheels that locate in the guideways; asteering rail mounted to one of the guide ways, the steering rail havinga plurality of coils wrapped around a core; and a pair of steeringmagnets mounted to the vehicle and positioned on opposite sides of thesteering rail, the steering magnets creating magnetic fields that passthrough the coils of the steering rail and steer the vehicle by tendingto remain substantially equidistant to the steering rail as the vehiclemoves along the guideways.
 12. The transport system according to claim11, further comprising: a pair of rollers mounted to the vehicle andlocated on opposite sides of the steering rail for selective rollingcontact with the steering rail to steer the vehicle at speeds that aretoo low to effectively steer with the steering magnets.
 13. Thetransport system according to claim 11, further comprising: a secondsteering rail mounted to the other of the guide ways, the secondsteering rail having a plurality of coils wrapped around a core; asecond pair of steering magnets mounted to the vehicle and positioned onopposite sides of the second steering rail, the second pair of steeringmagnets creating magnetic fields that pass through the coils of thesecond steering rail and steer the vehicle by tending to remainsubstantially equidistant to the second steering rail as the vehiclemoves along the wheel guides; and the first mentioned pair of steeringmagnets and the second pair of steering magnets being alternatelymovable to a storage position in which their magnetic fields do not passthrough either of the steering rails, such that only one pair of thesteering magnets serves to steer the vehicle at one time.
 14. Atransport system, comprising: a pair of laterally spaced apartguideways, each of the guideways having a shroud; a levitating railmounted within each of the shrouds, each of the levitating rails havinga plurality of coils wrapped around a core; a vehicle having wheels thatare received within the shrouds and which contact the levitating railwhile in nonlevitating operation and levitate above the levitating railswhile in levitating operation; a propulsion source for moving thevehicle forward; and a magnet mounted to the vehicle above eachlevitating rail, the magnets creating magnetic fields that pass throughthe coils of the levitating rails as the propulsion source moves thevehicle forward to cause the vehicle to move to the levitatingoperation.
 15. The transport system according to claim 14, furthercomprising: a steering rail mounted within one of the shrouds, thesteering rail having a plurality of coils wrapped around a core; and apair of steering magnets mounted to the vehicle and positioned onopposite sides of the steering rail, the steering magnets creatingmagnetic fields that pass through the coils of the steering rail andsteer the vehicle by tending to remain substantially equidistant to thesteering rail as the vehicle moves along the guideways.
 16. A method oftransporting a vehicle, comprising: providing a pair of laterally spacedapart guideways with a first steering, rail mounted to one of theguideways, the steering rail having a plurality of coils wrapped arounda core; positioning a vehicle on the track section, the vehicle having apair of steering magnets mounted to the vehicle; and positioning thesteering magnets on opposite sides of the steering rail and moving thevehicle along the guideways, causing magnetic fields of the steeringmagnets to pass through the coils of the steering rail and steer thevehicle by tending to remain substantially equidistant to the steeringrail as the vehicle moves along the guideways.
 17. A method oftransporting a vehicle, comprising: providing a main track section withlaterally spaced apart first and second guideways, a steering railmounted to the first guideway, the steering rail having a plurality ofcoils wrapped around a core; connecting a switch track section to themain track section, the switch track section having laterally spacedapart first and second guideways that register with the first and secondguideways of the main track section and lead away from the main tracksection, a first steering rail mounted to the first guideway of theswitch track section that aligns and extends straight with the steeringrail of the main track section, and a second steering rail mounted tothe second guideway of the switch track section and leading away fromthe main track section, the first and second steering rails of theswitch track section each having a plurality of coils wrapped around acore; positioning a vehicle on the main track section, the vehiclehaving first and second pairs of steering magnets mounted to and onopposite sides of the vehicle; positioning the first pair of steeringmagnets on opposite sides of the steering rail of the main track sectionand moving the vehicle along the main track section, causing magneticfields of the first pair of steering magnets to pass through the coilsof the steering rail of the main track section and steer the vehicle bytending to remain substantially equidistant to the steering rail of themain track section as the vehicle moves along the main track section;then at or prior to the switch track section, moving the first pair ofsteering magnets away from the steering rail of the main track sectionand moving the second pair of steering magnets on opposite sides of thesecond steering rail of the switch track section, causing magneticfields of the second pair of steering magnets to pass through the coilsof the second steering rail of the switch track section and steer thevehicle along the switch track section away from the main track section.18. A method of forming an electromagnetic device, comprising: providinga core with a longitudinal axis and a sheet having a plurality ofparallel and spaced apart conductive strips; and wrapping the sheetaround the core in multiple wraps with the conductive strips beingsubstantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.
 19. The methodaccording to claim 18, wherein the step of wrapping the sheet comprisesshorting selected ones of the conductive strips to themselves with eachturn to create single turn coils.
 20. The method according to claim 18,wherein the step of wrapping the sheet comprises: shorting selected onesof the conductive strips to themselves with each turn to create singleturn coils and shorting the conductive strips to each other with eachturn; and wrapping other ones of the conductive strips continuouslywithout shorting each turn to create power coils.